His latest venture into promoting has seen him sign Michael Venom Page - awful fighter Ruqsana Begum - one of the worst fighters I've ever seen Willy Hutchinson - (a talent) but who has already left him after just a few fights! Joe Joyce - old and will almost certainly ditch Hayemaker soon too. In his comeback he put on shows against the poor Gjerjag and some other guy who learned to box off youtube, both with terrible undercards. I remember back in the Setanta days his stable was weak then with the likes of Michael Grant, John Watson, Michael Maguire. He doesn't seem to have a clue imo when it comes to all aspects of promoting - putting on good shows with good match ups/ spotting talent/ keeping a hold of talent etc.
Yes I'd tend to agree. When he arranged for Lethal Bizzle to perform during one of his comeback shows (Gjerjaj I think), it was just awful. I feel he has been good in spots - matchmaking Joyce and Lewison was a brilliant move for his debut and Lenroy Thomas also was a great pick. But yeah it's just not worked for him so far. Hutchison left him, nothing on Dave since Joyce-Palmer which was terrible... I have a feeling he would do better as a manager if he just concentrated on Joyce and a couple others but promoting is a hard game. It's ego with Haye though.
He hasn’t got the budget or tv deal to compete with Hearn or Warren... But to call him the worst UK promoter ever is a stretch...what are the success measures? He’s promoted himself pretty well!
Come on guys for gods sake, give the guy a break. I am no fan , but he has just lost and has just had his fighting career finished. He is trying at least.
This. Kicking a man when he is down aint the one. Got to agree with @CutThroatFade, Haye should just manage and focus on Joyce for time being.
Haye is one of the best self promoters. Haye also sold to the British people that him fighting A Farce was a more important fight for the fans than him fighting Vitali a Klitschko. He was so good that even after clearly being shot to bits, was still able to convince the majority of people that he would beat a Bellew in a rematch. The majority of “experts” also backed Haye in the rematch. Haye’s own promotions is low level, because he doesn’t have a huge budget or Sky or BT backing. But it’s not been a complete failure either. Those who have failed so badly they only put on 1-2 shows go down as bigger failures.
Even considering ex fighters...Hayemaker promotions have been far more succcessful than Calzaghe or Hatton promotions...so this thread is just dumb
I will never forget how he successfully sold that great lie. One of the greatest ever farces sold as a legitimate contest. He actually said that is the fight the British public had been begging him to fight Audreyand convinced these fools that the Klitchko brothers were ducking him. Listen to how he talks about the fight as if there was Audrey provided a genuine threat, as if he had just taken out a prime Evander Holyfield. This content is protected
He did also throughout the entire build up that this was a complete mismatch. And he is shocked that the public think its gonna be a close fight. I remember him talking about how delusional Harrison was due to AH genuinely coming across like he thought he could win the fight. I know Haye said this a few times in build ups, but he did say it.
It's not exactly easy to get into.. Imagine you're a promoter now. You got Hearn and FW cards to compete with, they already have the TV deals with 2 big UK tv channels and have the stable that can generate recognition. Also they have the prospects to fill the undercards. Haye is still new to promoting, it'll take years to build a stable and a brand that is recognised. Then the TV deals and that. It'll take so much money and it's probably very loss making initially which is maybe why he's been so laid back with it all
I don't think Haye and Schaefer were ever really trying to compete with the juggernaut that is matchroom. It seems more like a feeder promotional company which doesn't have high overheads and wasn't putting on huge fights by itself. I don't think it's a failure. It's only been around for like two minutes anyway. He signed Micheal Page because he has a name in MMA in Bellator and on the british scene.
Haye is a fantastic promoter.. of himself. Look at the fights and money he has got over the years, Haye sold us a Audley Harrison PPV, that alone is Promoter Hall Of Fame worthy.
